Förskolans formande: Statlig reglering 1944-2008.

The dissertation examines the significance of daycare centres in Swedish society.
The descriptive purpose of the dissertation is to study how provisions for Swedish daycare centres have developed historically, and how these provisions have determined the framework for daycare centres as a social institution from 1944 to 2008. It also examines the role state regulation assigns to daycare centres in comparison with other parties and enterprises involved in the welfare and upbringing of young children. Furthermore, the principles on which this regulation is based are analysed. The dissertation is based on a proposal put forward by the Swedish School Committee in 2003 concerning the possibility for daycare centres to form a new voluntary type of school and be regulated by the school system in a new schools act.

The analysis shows that economic, legislative and ideological regulatory measures are used to establish the framework for daycare centres. This framework marks the limits of kindergarten compared to other social institutions.  The identity of the kindergarten is established through this delimitation as a full-time institution authorised to provide both education and care. Its work overlaps the family, the social services and school. Therefore, daycare centres aim to maintain a balance between different and conflicting demands from other institutions and interested parties and their own tasks. The proposal to transform daycare centres to a new voluntary type of school is a challenge to Swedish society’s current understanding of daycare centres.

The study is a text analysis of historical sources. The data consists of public documents from 1944 to 2008 about daycare centres and statistics available to public.

Folke-Fichtelius, M. (2008). Förskolans formande: Statlig reglering 1944-2008. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet.